KR20150016980A - Providing streams of filtered photographs for user consumption - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is based on the consideration of the user's social graph and other external signals generated for the photograph based on predetermined criteria that determine the user's level of interest, (Including those that have been intermixed with video and hybrid types (animated GIFs, animated photo bursts, etc.)). The systems and methods capture photos, search for social graphs for specific users, rate and filter photos, rank photos, and limit the number of photos provided for a view from a single source. Thus, only photos determined to be of most interest to a particular user are provided for display to a particular user.

Description

PROVIDING STREAMS OF FILTERED PHOTOGRAPHS FOR USER CONSUMPTION < RTI ID = 0.0 >

The present invention relates to a stream of photos (or "photos") that are shared or otherwise accessed by an user in an online service or community, e.g., a social network. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for generating photographic streams (such as video and hybrid types (animated GIFs, animated photo bursts, etc.) and mutual mixes) that are filtered based at least in part on the user's social graph, To a particular user in a social network.

Social networks or other online communities provide an online platform that allows users to share ideas, activities, events, or interests within individual networks created by users, including those that enable users to socialize do. In social networks, photos are one of the most attractive and long lasting items shared by users. For example, a particular user's interest in posting a friend about what a particular user's friends ate for dinner may not last as long as the interest in the photo (as memory, for example) photographed at the birthday party will be. However, there is a continued supply of photographs in which most users are less interested in social networks, and the overwhelming numbers make it difficult for the user to view them all, You will notice a lot less of the pictures you have. Thus, it would be beneficial for individual users to include only those photographs that specifically include others in their social graph, or otherwise specifically interested in them.

The present invention provides a stream of only such photos (including those that have been intermixed with video or hybrid types (animated GIFs, animated photo bursts, etc.)) determined to be "specifically" interested in particular users in the social network To overcome the disadvantages and limitations of the prior art. Photographs (or "photographic stream") from a continuous stream are determined to be of interest to a particular user, and may be transformed into a view based on an external signal generated based on a particular user's social graph or predefined criteria, . In particular, the technique includes selecting a photo stream for a particular user, searching the user's social graph, determining an associated signal for the photos, assigning weights to the signals of the photos, A system for limiting the number, ranking photos based on the weighted signal, filtering photos based on the weighted signal, and presenting the photos of most interest to the user.

In some embodiments, the present invention provides a computer implemented method for providing a stream of pictures for a view by a particular user associated with other users in a social network, the method comprising: 1) 2) using one or more computing devices to determine one or more related signals for each of the one or more pictures, 3) Using one or more computing devices to generate an external signal that specifies one or more pictures based at least in part on considering predetermined criteria for a particular user; 4) Based at least in part on considering external signals for each of the photographs, one Filtering a selection subset of the above pictures; and 5) using the one or more computing devices to generate a stream of selection subsets of one or more photos for viewing by a particular user.

Figure 1 illustrates some embodiments of a system that provides a photographic stream (including intermixed with video or hybrid types (animated GIF, animated photo bursts, etc.) for a view of selected pictures based on a particular user ' s social graph) A high level block diagram indicating.
Figure 2a is a block diagram illustrating some embodiments of the social network server shown in Figure 1 including hardware components.
2B is a block diagram illustrating some embodiments of the photo-consuming stream unit and its software components.
3 is a diagram illustrating an example of user friendliness represented by a social graph for a particular user;
4 shows an example of social groups in a social graph of a particular user;
5 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary general method of providing a photographic stream for a user in a social network based on a user social graph and other external signals generated for the individual photographs.
6 is a table showing an example of assigning weights to pictures based on generation of an external signal due to a predetermined predetermined criterion;
Figure 7 illustrates some embodiments of a user interface for presenting a photo stream to a user in a social network;

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals are used to indicate like elements.

In some instances, the present disclosure encompasses photographs (including intermixed with video or hybrid types (animated GIF, animated photo bursts, etc.) by users of an online community or service, e.g., users connected within a social network A system and method for providing a stream for a view of a stream is described. It should be appreciated that in the present description, a photograph includes pictures that are intermixed with video or hybrid types, including animated GIFs, animated photo bursts, and the like. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the techniques described. However, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that this technique may be practiced without these specific details. In another example, structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to avoid ambiguity in the art. For example, the techniques are described below in some embodiments with reference to a user interface and specific hardware. However, the techniques apply to any type of computing device capable of receiving data and commands, and to any device that provides services. This technique is also described below in the context of providing select photographs primarily to a particular user, rather than a continuous stream of photos with little or no interest to a particular user. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the present technique may be used in other applications beyond filtering out pictures based on a social graph or generating an external signal from a predetermined standard predetermined to filter the pictures of interest.

As used herein, the phrase "one embodiment", "an embodiment", or "some embodiment" means that at least one particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with one or more embodiments is within the scope of at least one embodiment It simply means being included. The appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment" in various places in this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

Some portions of the following detailed description are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within the computer memory of one or more computing devices. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means by which ordinary skill in the data processing arts will most effectively communicate their work to other technicians in the field. The overall algorithm presented here is taken to be a consistent sequence of steps leading to the desired outcome. Steps are physical manipulations of physical quantities. Generally, though not necessarily, this amount takes the form of an electrical or magnetic signal capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. Describing this signal as a bit, a value, an element, a symbol, a character, a term, a number, etc. has proven to be useful, often for common use.

It is to be understood, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels given to them. Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions utilizing terms such as "processing", "computing", "computing", "determination", or "indication", etc. throughout the description, A computer system that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities in memory and registers or other similar data represented as physical quantities in computer system memory or registers or other such information storage, transmission, or display devices, Electronic computing device, < / RTI >

The present technique also relates to an apparatus for performing the operations described herein. The apparatus may be specially configured for the required purposes, or it may comprise a general purpose computer selectively driven or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such computer programs may include, but are not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, magnetic disks, read only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, Or flash memory including a USB key with a non-volatile memory, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, each of which may be stored in a computer system bus .

The techniques may take the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment that includes both hardware and software components. In some embodiments, the techniques are implemented in software, including but not limited to, firmware, resident software, microcode, and the like.

The techniques may also take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer usable or computer readable medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. For the purposes of this description, a computer usable or computer readable medium may be any apparatus capable of storing, communicating, propagating, or communicating a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device .

A data processing system suitable for storing and / or executing program code includes at least one processor connected directly or indirectly to a memory device via a system bus. The memory element may include local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and a cache memory that provides temporary storage of at least some program code to reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from bulk storage during execution .

An input / output or I / O device (including but not limited to a keyboard, display, pointing device, etc. as an example) may be connected to the system directly or via an I / O controller.

A communication unit including a network adapter may also be coupled to a system that enables it to connect to other data processing systems, remote printers, or storage devices via a private or public network. Modems, cable modems, and ethernet cards are just a few examples of the types of network adapters currently available.

Finally, the algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other device. It may prove convenient to use a variety of general purpose systems with programs according to the teachings herein or to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The structure required for these various systems is described in the following description. Also, this technique is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It should be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the techniques described herein.

1 illustrates a method for viewing "selected" pictures filtered based on a social graph of a particular user or other external signals that specify individual pictures at various levels of interest, to allow a user of an online service or community, Is a high-level block diagram illustrating some embodiments of a system generally designated 100, for providing a photographic stream (including intermixed with video or hybrid types (animated GIF, animated photobarb, etc.)). The external signal may be generated based on applying a predetermined criterion to filter pictures of particular interest to a particular user. The system 100 can be accessed through user devices 115a through 115n used by users 125a through 125n to connect to any of the social network servers 101a 101b, (101a, 101b, ..., 101n). These entities are communicatively coupled through a network 105 that facilitates information exchange between user devices 105a-n and social network servers 101a-n. Although only two user devices 115a through 115n are shown, a typical descriptor will recognize that any number of user devices 115n may be used by any number of users 125n.

It is also contemplated that one network (e. G., One or more) connected to user devices 115a through 115n, social network servers 101a through 101n, user profile server 130, web server 132, and one or more third party servers 136a through 136n 105 are shown, but any number of networks 105 may actually be connected to these entities.

In some embodiments, the social network server 101a is connected to the network 105 via a signal line 104. [ The social network server 101a includes a social network application 101 that includes a software routine and instructions for operating the social network server 101a and its functions and operations. Although only one social network server 101a is described herein, a typical descriptor may include a plurality of servers as shown by the servers 101b to 101n of the social networks, each of which is connected to the social network server 101a But may have similar or different functionality.

The term "social network " as used herein includes, by way of illustration and not limitation, the ordinary and common meaning that includes any form of social structure in which a user is connected by a common feature or link. Common characteristics include relationships / connections, such as friendship, family, work, and similar interests. A common feature is provided by one or more social networking systems, such as those included in the system 100, including relationships explicitly defined and implied by social connections with other online users, Forms a social graph 134.

As used herein, the term "social graph" is intended to encompass, without being limiting, examples of one or more social relationships, such as social network system 100, including relationships explicitly defined and implied by social connections with other online users Including a set of online relationships between users, such as those provided by a networking system, wherein the relationship forms a social graph. In some instances, the social graph 134 may reflect the mappings of these users, and how they are related.

It should be understood that the social network server 101a and the social network software / application 102 represent a single social network. Each of the plurality of social networks 101a, 101b, ..., 101n is connected to a network 105, each having its own server, application, and social graph. For example, a first social network hosted on a social network server may be targeted to business networking, a second social network may be targeted to or focused on a discipline, a third social network may be targeted to a local business, 4 Social networks target dating, and other social networks can target other general interests, or perhaps specific focus.

The user profile server 130 is shown as a stand-alone server in FIG. In another embodiment of the system 100, all or part of the user profile server 130 may be part of the social network server 101a. The user profile server 130 is connected to the network 105 via line 131. The user profile server 130 has a profile for all users belonging to the social network. The third party server 136a is connected to the network 105 via a signal line 137. [ The web server 132 is connected to the network 105 via line 133.

The social network server 101a includes a photo consumption unit 103a in which user devices 115a to 115n are connected via a network 105. [ In particular, the user device 115a is connected to the network 105 via line 108. The user 125a via the user device 115a may access the social network server 101a to communicate with other users who are acquiring friendships to post or view updates including, for example, compose comments or photos. In these communications, the user 125a is presented with a photo stream provided by others. The photo consumption unit 103a functions to filter only the corresponding photographs or photos of interest to the user device 115a. The ordinary skilled artisan will appreciate that the photo-consuming stream units 103a may be provided in any combination to the social network server 101a (denoted 103a) or to the user device 115a (denoted 103b) , Or only one of the illustrated devices or servers.

The photo-consuming stream unit 103a is a system for generating a photo stream for a particular user in a social network to view photos based on the user's social graph and other external signals generated for the photos. As an example, the photo-consuming stream unit 103a prevents the photo stream from being dominated by a single source by limiting the number of photos from that single source. This stream is presented to the user 125a in a visually interesting and irregular grid pattern. Thus, the photo-consuming stream unit 103a can be a web-based application composed of many independent parts loosely coupled to a distributed architecture to provide a photo stream tailored to the user's interests and priorities within the social network.

User devices 115a through 115n may be computing devices and may be, for example, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable email device, a portable game player, A television on which processors are embedded or connected, or any other electronic device capable of accessing the network.

The network 105 may be any conventional type, wired or wireless, and may have any number of configurations, such as a star configuration, a token ring configuration, or other configurations known to those of ordinary skill in the art. The network 105 may also include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN, e.g., the Internet), and / or any other interconnected data path through which one or more devices may communicate.

In another embodiment, the network 105 may be a peer-to-peer network. The network 105 may be connected to or may include portions of one or more telecommunication networks that send data in a variety of different communication protocols.

In another embodiment, the network 105 is a Bluetooth communication that transmits and receives data via short message service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), direct data connection, WAP, Network or cellular communication network.

In some embodiments, the social network server 101a, the user profile server 130, the web server 132, and the third party server 136a are hardware servers that include processor, memory, and network communication capabilities. One or more of the users 125a through 125n access any of the servers 101a through 101n through the browser of the user device and the web server 132. [

2A is a block diagram illustrating some embodiments of the hardware architecture of the social network server 101a. In FIG. 2A, the same reference numerals have been used to refer to like elements having the same or similar function as described above with reference to FIG. Since the components have been described above, they will not be repeated here. The social network server 101a typically includes one or more processors (only one processor 235 is shown in FIG. 2A), a memory 237, a data storage 231, a communication unit 245, And an input display 247. The processor 235, the memory 237, the data storage 231, and the communication unit 245 are communicatively coupled via the system bus 220. [ An input display 247 for a user is communicatively coupled to the communication unit 245 to display content or pictures created via the network 105 to a user device, e.g., a user device 115a-115n. In the illustrated embodiment, the photo-consuming stream unit 103a resides within the social network server 101a.

Processor 235 processes the data signals and program instructions received from memory 237 and data storage 231. The processor 235 may include a variety of computing architectures including an architecture that implements a complex instruction set computer (CISC) architecture, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture, or a combination of instruction sets.

Memory 237 may be a non-volatile storage medium. The memory 237 stores instructions and / or data for the consumed stream unit that can be executed by the processor 235. [ In one embodiment, the instructions and / or data stored in memory 237 include code that does some and / or all of the techniques described herein. Memory 237 may be a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device, a static random access memory (SRAM) device, a flash memory, or some other memory device known in the art.

Data storage 231 stores data and program instructions that may be executed by processor 235. [ Data storage 231 may be any of a variety of non-volatile memory persistent storage devices and media such as hard disk drives, floppy disk drives, CD-ROM devices, DVD-ROM devices, DVD- A flash memory device, or some other non-volatile storage device known in the art.

The communication unit 245 facilitates communication between the user device 115a and the server 101a via the network 105. [ The user 125a via the user device 115a posts the message to the server 101a via the communication unit 245 and receives the information from the server 101a.

The input display 247 for the user displays information received from the server 101a to the user. In one embodiment, the input display 247 for the user displays one or more pictures in the photo stream for the user's view. This photographic stream is generated by the phototaking stream unit 103a which is also connected to the system bus 220. [

2B is a block diagram illustrating components within a photo consumption stream unit 103a (resident in the social network server 101a) or a photo consumption stream unit 103b (component resident in the user device 115a) to be. The photo-consumer stream unit 103a / 103b includes a photo stream retrieval module 262, a social graph retrieval module 264, an associated photo determination and external signal generation module 266, an interest graph module 268, an interaction module 270 includes a variety of modules including a weight assignment module 272, a picture limit module 274, a picture ranking module 276, a picture filtering module 278, and a user interface module 280, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > 282 < / RTI >

The photo-consuming stream units 103a / 103b include one or more applications or engines configured to communicate via a software communication mechanism 282. [ The software communication mechanism 282 may be implemented as an object bus (such as CORBA), a direct socket communication (such as a TCP / IP socket) between software modules, a remote procedure call, a UDP broadcast and receipt, A procedure call, or the like. In addition, some or all of the communication may be secured (SSH, HTTPS, etc.). The software communications may be implemented in any underlying hardware, such as a network, the Internet, a system bus 220, combinations thereof, and the like

The photo stream search module 262 is configured to retrieve a photo stream from a plurality of sources in a user's social network and to transmit the photo stream to an associated photo determination and outer signal determination module 266. [ The social graph search module 264 retrieves a social graph for a particular user. In some embodiments, the social graph for each particular user represents a set of online relationships that a particular user has with other users. These relationships can be based on consideration of different criteria, such as friendship, family relationships, shared lessons, business associations, shared common interests, and so on. In a social network, a user creates his or her network with others who may want to communicate. The communication is channeled into the user ' s social network.

The related photographic determination and external signal generation module 266 is configured to determine "related" factors for the individual photographs obtained from the photographic stream search module 262. [ The related parameters are used to generate an external signal for the individual pictures. In some embodiments, the associated signal for pictures may reflect how recently a particular picture was taken. The relevant signal may also reflect, for example, any one or more of the other factors, such as the user's affinity for the people tagged in a particular photo, the user's affinity for the user sharing the photo, Or whether there are faces (or faces). In another embodiment, the associated signal may reflect the location where the photo was taken. In addition, the associated signal may reflect one or more other factors, such as the number of comments made by others about the photo, the number of people recommending the photo, how recently the photo was commented, How recently the picture was recommended, and the aesthetic level of the picture.

The interest graph module 268 creates a graph of interest for the user based on user activity in the social network. In some embodiments, the associated signal may include a signal obtained from a user view and / or an interaction history as well as a user's interest graph (which may provide a photo outside the user's direct and / or indirect social network) .

The interaction history module 280 determines the user's interaction history within the social network. In some embodiments, the associated signal may include a user view and / or an interaction history. View history and / or interaction history within a social network may be indicative of interest in a particular photographer, subject (e.g., butterfly, mountain, etc.), or photo style. The view and / or interaction history may be determined by user interaction (e.g., comment, sharing, recommendation, etc.) with the work of the image capturer belonging to the group for a particular object (e.g. In other embodiments, interests may be explicitly declared (e.g., listing mountains, butterflies, surfing, etc. as concerns).

The weight assignment module 272 is configured to assign a weight to the signal generated from the social graph data 134. As an example, people are most concerned with their family members or friends, and are most interested in photographs where their family members are tagged. Thus, based on the particular user's affinity for the people tagged in the picture, a "high" weight is assigned to a particular picture and an external signal is generated to reflect the weighting for that picture. As another example, the user may not care how recently a particular picture was recommended by other users. Thus, the particular picture is assigned a low weight and an external signal is generated that reflects the "low" weight.

The photo limit module 274 is configured to limit the number of photos from a given album, source, or user to prevent the stream being dominated by a single source. The photo ranking module 276 ranks a particular picture based on a weight assigned to the picture. The photo filtering module 278 is configured to filter out the low ranking photos to present only the photos that are of most interest to the user.

The user interface module 280 provides only those pictures that are of most interest to the user for display to the user. In some embodiments, the photographs are displayed in a visually interesting and irregular grid pattern.

Referring to FIG. 3, an exemplary scenario representative of user friendliness is shown generally at 300. The depicted example represents users 125a-125g who share four different types of relationships, such as family relationships, friendships, associates, or relationships resulting from simple acquaintances. The relationship shared by the user 125a, the user 125b, and the user 125d is based on a family relationship, and thus is a tight and close relationship, indicated by the solid line labeled 302. The relationship shared by the user 125d, the user 125e, and the user 125f is based on friendship, and thus reflects another close relationship, indicated by the dashed line 304. The relationship between the user 125f and the user 125g is due to the fact that they are colleagues, which is indicated by the dash-dotted line labeled 306. The relationship between user 125b and user 125c is further indicated by dotted line 308 because they are simply acquaintances.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a graphical representation represents an example of some social groups of a particular user, generally indicated at 400. Social groups are networks created by users, inviting others to join the groups, or created in response to invitations by others. Social groups include groups of family members, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. As an example shown in Fig. 4, a user 125a, a user 125b, and a user 125d form a group 402 belonging to a family. As another example, user 125d, user 125f, and user 125e are friends and form group 404. User 125b and user 125c are acquaintances and form group 406. [ User 125f and user 125g are colleagues of the same company and form group 408. [ The user 125d belongs to both a specific family group 402 and a group of friends 404, and the user 125d appears as an intersection of two groups displayed therein. Similarly, the user 125f belongs to the group of friends 404 and the group of associates 408 shown. This appears as an intersection of two groups 404 and 408 with user 125f inside. Again, the user 125b belongs to the intersection of the groups 402 and 406, indicating that the user 125b belongs to both a group of family members and a group of acquaintances.

5 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary general method of providing a photo stream to a user based on a particular user's social graph and other external signals generated for the photo, The external signal is generated based on a predetermined criterion for analyzing the importance and interest of the individual photographs.

The method is initiated and proceeds to block 502 to include one or more operations to retrieve a photographic stream. In some embodiments, the photo stream search module 262 (FIG. 2B) retrieves a photo stream from a particular user's social network (one or more sources). The method proceeds to the next block 504 (which includes one or more actions), at which the social graph search module 264 (FIG. 2B) retrieves the social graph data 134 (FIG. 1) do. The method proceeds to block 506 where the related information or signal is analyzed for the retrieved pictures based on the social graph and other criteria for the particular user. In some embodiments of this method, the associated photographic determination and external signal generation module 266 (FIG. 2B, also referred to as the associated photographic determination module) first determines the associated signal for specific photographs. As an example, the associated photo determination module 266 may determine the relationship between people tagged with a particular photo and the user. As another example, the associated photo determination module 266 may determine the number of comments on a particular photo and the number of people who recommend the photo.

The method proceeds to the next block 508 (which includes one or more actions), at which the interest graph module 268 (FIG. 2B) computes a graph of interest for the user. As an example, interest graph module 268 calculates that a user has interest in a picture of a butterfly based on a user comment on one or more pictures of the butterfly. The method then proceeds to block 510, where the interaction history module 270 (FIG. 2B) determines the user's interaction history. For example, the interaction history module 270 determines that the user interacts frequently with the pictures of the butterfly.

The method proceeds to the next block 512 (which includes one or more actions), in which the weight assignment module 272 (FIG. 2B) determines whether a particular picture may be of interest to a particular user And assigns weights to external signals generated for individual photographs based on an analysis of predetermined criteria. As an example, the weight assignment module 272 assigns a "high" weight to pictures that are tagged by the user's family members or shared among other family members. The method proceeds to the next block 514, where the photo limit module 274 (FIG. 2B) limits the number of photos from a single source. For example, the photo limit module 279 limits the number of pictures from a given album or user to prevent the stream from being dominated by a single source.

The method proceeds to block 516 where the photo ranking module 276 (FIG. 2B) ranks the pictures based on the weighted signals of the pictures. The method proceeds to block 518, where the photo filtering module 278 (FIG. 2B) filters the pictures that have been assigned a low ranking. The method then proceeds to block 520, where the user interface module 280 (FIG. 2B) displays the photographs most interested in the user.

Referring now to FIG. 6, an example of a predetermined criterion that may be used to assign various weights is shown in the table 602. It should be appreciated that the predefined criteria presented herein are merely examples, and that other criteria may be substituted or added to evaluate the photographs of interest to the user. In addition, the criteria may be constantly applied to all users of the social network, or may vary depending on the user's status level or category. As an example, a user typically gives the most attention to those closest to him, so a friendly signal that specifies a close relationship can specify the most valuable and important people to the user. In this example, the affinity signal represents this criterion, and the photographs relating to the relationship indicating this affinity may be tagged as "specifically interested" to a particular user. As shown in the table, based on the user's social graph, a particular user may want to view this particular picture if affinity is determined between a particular user to whom a particular picture is sent and another user in the picture. Therefore, this photograph may be given a weight of "10 ". As another example, based on a particular user's social graph, if a particular user to whom a photo is shared is determined to have affinity with the user sharing the photo, that particular photo is weighted "9 ". As another example, if a particular photo is determined to have a face or multiple faces, it may be more interesting than a photograph of an inanimate object. This particular picture will be given a weight of "8 ". Either of these weights, "10", "9", or "8" can be considered "high".

As with the other examples shown in the table, the user may be less interested in the location from which a particular picture was taken and how recently a particular picture was recommended. Thus, as shown in the table, these two signals are assigned a minimum weight in the evaluation scheme, i.e. a weight of "3 ". As another example, the number of comments on a particular photo and the number of users who recommend a particular photo are also two important signals that may be of interest to a particular user. Therefore, as shown in the table, these two signals are given high weights, "7" and "6", respectively.

Referring now to FIG. 7, there is shown some embodiment of a social network user interface generally designated 700. This user interface 700 may be provided for display on one or more of the user devices 115a through 115n. Reference numeral 702 denotes a social network, e.g., a name, or any other information the social network may wish to display to the user. The user interface 700 may provide a control feature that allows a particular user of the social network to retrieve a photo from his photo stream by entering a name or keyword associated with the photo in the text box, Reference numeral 706 denotes the name of the current user on the displayed page, in this example user 125a. The user interface 700 may also provide other options, generally indicated at 708, for display of pictures to the user. By clicking on the tab designated as "A11 ", the user interface 700 can enable a particular user to request display of all photos of his or her photo stream or album. By clicking a tab designated as "Friends" in the user interface 700, a specific user can request display of only his / her friend's photograph. By clicking on the tab designated as "Family" in the user interface 700, the user can request a picture of the particular user's family for display. When the tab "More" is clicked, the user interface 700 can display pictures in countless different ways.

In the example shown, the tab designated as "A11" is highlighted, which represents a particular user's request for all photos. When the "A11" option is requested, the user interface 700 may display the pictures indicated by reference numerals 710 to 718 based on the user's social graph and other external signals associated with the pictures. In the depicted example, the user 125b, who is a family member of the user 125a, is tagged with a picture, This picture is shared by another family member 125d associated with the indicated user 125a. In the photographic stream for this particular user, this photo is most likely to be of interest, so it is provided for display to the user 125a in preference to the order of the photos. The picture labeled 712 is also likely to be of interest and is shared with the family member 125b associated with the user 125a and subsequently presented to the user 125a in order.

As in the other example shown, the picture shown at 714 has the maximum number of comments, and the picture shown at 716 has the maximum number of people to recommend. The two pictures are then presented to the user 125a. The picture labeled 718 has fewer comments and fewer people to recommend, and thus may be presented last to the user 125a in sequence of pictures.

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the present technology has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The scope of the present technology is intended to be defined by the appended claims rather than by the detailed description. As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the techniques may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. Likewise, the specific naming and distinction of modules, routines, features, attributes, methods, and other aspects is not essential or important, and the mechanism for realizing the invention or its features may have different names, sections and / or formats. Also, as is apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, the modules, routines, features, attributes, methods, and other aspects of the technology may be implemented in software, hardware, firmware, or any combination of the three. Also, as long as the component in which the example is a module is implemented in software, the component may be an independent program, a portion of a larger program, a plurality of individual programs, a static or dynamically linked library, Device drivers, and / or any other method known or now known to one of ordinary skill in the computer programming arts. Further, the techniques are by no means limited to any particular programming language, or any particular operating system or environment. Accordingly, the disclosure of the present technology is intended to be illustrative, not limiting, of the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims (18)

A computer-implemented method for providing a stream of one or more of pictures, hybrid pictures with video and intermixed pictures, and animated pictures so that a particular user associated with other users in the social network can view,
Using one or more computing devices to obtain one or more photos from one or more sources associated with the particular user,
Using the one or more computing devices to search for a social graph associated with the particular user,
Using the one or more computing devices to determine one or more associated signals for the one or more photos based at least in part on one or more predetermined criteria,
Using the one or more computing devices to assign various weights to the one or more associated signals based at least in part on predetermined criteria including a social graph for the particular user,
Ranking the one or more photos by considering the various weights assigned to the one or more photos using the one or more computing devices,
Using the one or more computing devices to filter the one or more photos based on the ranking to obtain a selection subset of one or more photos of particular interest to the particular user;
Using the one or more computing devices to present a selection subset of the one or more photos to a particular user for viewing. A computer implemented method for providing a stream of one or more of photos, hybrid pictures with video and intermixed pictures, and animated pictures, so that a particular user associated with other users in the social network can view them,
Using one or more computing devices to obtain one or more photos from one or more sources for viewing by the particular user,
Using the at least one computing device to generate an external signal that specifies one or more pictures of interest to the particular user based at least in part on considering predetermined criteria for the particular user,
Filtering the selection subsets of the one or more photos based at least in part on considering the external signals for the one or more photos using the one or more computing devices;
And using the one or more computing devices to generate a stream of a selection subset of the one or more photos for viewing by the particular user. 3. The method of claim 2,
Using the one or more computing devices to provide a particular subset of the one or more photos for viewing to a particular user for viewing. The method of claim 3,
Wherein a selection subset of the photographs is provided in an irregular grid pattern for viewing by the particular user. 3. The method of claim 2,
The predetermined criteria include: 1) how recently at least one of the one or more pictures was taken, 2) how recently a comment was made on at least one of the one or more pictures, and 3) how recently a picture was recommended ≪ / RTI > 3. The method of claim 2,
The predetermined criteria may include one or more of: 1) affinity of a particular user for one or more other users tagged with the one or more photos, or 2) affinity of a particular user for another user sharing the one or more photos Gt; a < / RTI > 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the predetermined criterion determines whether there is more than one face in the one or more pictures. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the external signal is assigned a weight in the range from high to low and the external signal is considered for filtering a selection subset of the one or more pictures. 3. The method of claim 2,
The predetermined criteria are: 1) the location where the photo was taken; 2) the number of comments on the one or more photos; 3) the number of other users who recommended the one or more photos; and 4) ≪ / RTI > 3. The method of claim 2,
Further comprising restricting one or more pictures from a single source. A system comprising one or more computing devices for providing a stream of one or more of photos, hybrid pictures with video and intermixed pictures, and animated pictures for viewing by a particular user associated with other users in the social network,
A photo stream retrieval module configured to retrieve one or more photos from one or more sources associated with the particular user,
A social graph search module configured to search a social graph associated with the particular user,
An associated photographic signal determination module configured to determine, based at least in part on one or more predetermined criteria, one or more related signals for each of the one or more photos from one or more sources associated with the particular user,
A weight assignment module configured to assign various weights to the one or more associated signals based at least in part on one or more predetermined criteria including a social graph for the particular user,
A photo ranking module configured to rank the one or more photos by considering various weights assigned to the one or more photos,
A picture filtering module configured to filter pictures of lower rank based at least in part on the predetermined criteria and the social graph to generate a selection subset of one or more pictures of particular interest to the particular user;
And a user interface module configured to display, for display, a selection subset of the one or more photos to a particular user for viewing. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the system provides a selection subset of the photograph in an irregular grid pattern so that it can be viewed by the particular user. 12. The method of claim 11,
The predetermined criteria include: 1) how recently at least one of the one or more pictures was taken, 2) how recently a comment was made on at least one of the one or more pictures, and 3) how recently a picture was recommended ≪ / RTI > 12. The method of claim 11,
The predetermined criteria may include at least one of 1) affinity of a particular user for one or more other users tagged with the one or more photos, or 2) friendliness of a particular user to another user sharing the one or more photos System. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the predetermined criterion determines whether there is more than one face in the one or more pictures. 12. The method of claim 11,
The predetermined criteria are: 1) the location at which the photo was taken; 2) the number of comments on the one or more photos; 3) the number of other people who recommended the one or more photos; and 4) Gt; a < / RTI > 12. The method of claim 11,
Further comprising a picture restricting module configured to limit the number of pictures selected from a single source for viewing by the particular user. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the photo ranking module ranks one or more photos from high to low.

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